Buna captures tough contest with Kountze
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Buna Head Football Coach Bradley Morgan believed his Cougars would respond strong when faced with a close ballgame.

He was right.

Buna used a late turnover to defeat a game Kountze Lions squad to claim a 21-14-district victory Friday, Oct. 12.

"Kountze's coach did a super job of scheming us up," Morgan said. "You could tell they worked hard. They have played with confidence all year long and you could tell he has them believing in themselves. They don't turn the ball over, they beat us."

The victory improved Buna to 6-0, 2-0 in district play.

On the first play of the game, Buna coughed up the ball and gave Kountze a prime scoring opportunity.

"We were just shellshocked and not blocking like we had been blocking and their defense was running to the football," Morgan said. "On film, they were not as aggressive as they showed us Friday night."

Kountze was utilizing a toss sweep and controlling the clock. The Lions' game plan coming in appeared to be control the football and keep the high-powered Coogs off the field.

In fact, Kountze ran off 57 offensive plays to Buna's 32 as the plan was set into perfect motion. When the halftime break rolled around, the upstart Lions held a 14-7 lead over Buna.

"Up until the very end, I think the kids were still confident that we were going to win the game," Morgan said.

Buna was finally able to tie the game with 2:22 left in the final quarter on an Anthony Smith touchdown run. In fact, Morgan believed the two teams were headed to overtime when a final Kountze fumble set up Buna for the winning score.

Aaron Carr scored with 54 seconds left in the game to give Buna a 21-14 late.

"My hats off to Kountze," Morgan said. "They played a very good game. I still think we have the better football team but they are 5-2 for a reason. If they continue to play like they played us, they will be the third place team in this district."

But Morgan will take the victory no matter how it looks on the field.

"I have seen years when we played as good as we can play and got beat; I would rather play bad and win then play good and lose," Morgan said.

This week, Buna will host unbeaten Hardin in a homecoming contest. The Hornets enter the contest 7-0, 3-0 in district play.

"Hardin is very explosive," Morgan said. "They throw the football and will throw it deep down the field."

The key recipient of the passes has been Hardin's Daniel Marsh.

"They throw it deep 10- 15 times a game and he goes up and catches it," Morgan said. "And they don't run the ball bad either."

The game will feature two explosive offenses and Morgan expects a shootout at Cougar Stadium this Friday night.

"They have to stop us and we have to stop them," Morgan said. "I look for a lot of points to be scored. We will have to play defense.

"There are some people who have projected Hardin to win this district," Morgan said. "I think it will be a good match-up."

COOG NOTES: The match-up with Hardin will also mark Buna High School's Homecoming 2007 festivities as well. The Homecoming King and Queen will be announced during the game of the two unbeaten teams in the district.